Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind. ~ Virginia Woolf

TSS: Monster Mash

March 27, 2011

Three years ago, I would have laughed aloud had someone told me that running a preschool would fulfill my daily quota for intelligent debates. Often these roundabouts are silly yet stimulating, though occasionally one will leave me a bit wrecked in spirit, sending me on my own path for a little while.

Most recently, there was some bit of friendly fire regarding a student-chosen topic focusing on monsters. Our curriculum is largely emergent and child directed, leading to some really amazing, brilliant projects that adults could never have been the catalysts for. This, ahem, monster of a thing, however, had the staff quite split.

Without going into great personal detail on the issue, (I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot, lately!), I’ll say that it’s a topic that’s been weighing heavily on my mind. I’ve noticed that, in our house and largely in the world of blogging, as well as literature in general, we like vampires, werewolves, muppets, puppets, dragons, mermaids, fairies, zombies and mythological creatures of all shapes and sizes. They are neither categorically good nor are they categorically bad. To young and old, monsters are manifestations of, not catalysts for, our hopes, dreams and fears. This, due to too much reading, I’m sure, was the platform I stood on and still find myself on.

The opposing argument, of course, is that monsters are, summarily, unquestioningly bad and should not be incorporated into literature or the young, creative process. I can see this side of things, though it’s not one I’ve taken, and fear, I didn’t even as a little kid. Sure, I was afraid of The Little Mermaid but I loved Elmo and Puff and, of course, Labyrinth. Monsters were creatures, rather than evil beings.

I am, forever, the existentialist and assume that everyone lives through experiences that shape completely different views about the very same world we all share. Thus, it’s largely my inquisitive nature that brought me to this blog post to ask: